How to do What You Love and Be Outstanding at it with Jodi Long

Podcast (the-business-of-hollywood): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:17 — 41.7MB) | Embed

This is a show featuring insider advice from Hollywood for today’s entrepreneurs. Working actors make up less than 10% of the actor population.

They must deal with rejection, network, brand themselves, market themselves, sell themselves, and more. Today’s entrepreneurs must do the same things.

If they can make it in Hollywood, you can make it as an entrepreneur! If you to do something you love you also have to be outstanding at what you do.

I discuss how to do that in this episode with my guest, Jodi Long.

We dive into topics and answer questions such as:

Jodi’s origin story in the acting world.
Why is choosing an occupation that you love so important?
Why must you constantly be honing your craft?
Why when you stop loving what you do it’s time to shift gears.
Why do you have to know who you are and what your purpose is to be successful?
How do you make the leap into making a living doing what you love when it’s not going to be easy?
Why should you embrace your unique creativity?
How do you keep on keepin’ on during the tough times?
Why did Jodi have an aversion to traditional networking and what did she do instead?
How do you reenergize or boost your belief in yourself over time?
How do you get centered and quiet your mind down to be more creative?
Why do you have to inspire yourself as well as other people?
What is the one thing, above all else, that you have to do to develop a strong belief in yourself?

…and other golden nuggets of advice!

The Questions You Ask Yourself

Jodi believes first of all, you must love what you do. Whatever that is, whether it’s making the best pie in the world, being a great actor, being a great writer, director, or entrepreneur. She thinks it’s important that you love your vision. You must ask yourself questions like how are you going to manifest that? How are you going to get there? What’s your goal?

When Jodi got out of school, her goal was to work at the Public Theater. Her plan was to do a Broadway show. She was going to do a regional show. She did all three things within a year.

Jodi started at 24, and then all of a sudden she was 25, and she was doing it all. Where to go from there?

The Importance of a Clear Vision

Jodi says the primary source of her success was having a clear vision. She had a clear vision, and once she did that within those two years, she asked, “Well, what do you want to do next?”

At that time in the world, as an Asian American woman who was 22 when she got out of college, and people said show business success wasn’t really in the cards. Her vocal teacher in college said Jodi was never going to work in the regional theater much less go beyond that.

When her teacher said that and Jodi thought, “What are you talking about?” That made Jodi even more determined to succeed. She decided, “Okay, I’m going to do this.” Then she got her first part at the Public Theater, and then she got a part at the Arena Stage, which were one of the biggest stages, regional theaters.

It was in Washington, DC. That show was a new play by Michael Weller called “Loose Ends”. It starred Kevin Kline. And then she was on Broadway. So boom. And then she once again asked, “Now what do I want to do?”

Jodi wanted to do another Broadway show, and she wanted to do a TV movie. Then she wanted to do a “real” movie” for the theaters, not just a TV movie. She auditioned for another play, and she got another play on Broadway. And then she did a TV movie, and then she got her first theatrical movie, which was called “Rollover”, and it starred Jane Fonda and Kris Kristofferson.

Jodi’s power of mind and belief in herself and achieving her goals grew stronger. She wishes she could say that now things still happen as fast as that. But she continues to put things out and she’s very grateful for the career that she’s had.

Gratefulness was key for her. And she believes it still is. Jodi believes that you create your own luck. And she’s done just that.

What comes first and what does that look like, believing in yourself or being great at what you do?

Jodi believes you must love what you do. So, whatever you decide you’re going to do, do it because you love it, and you’ll be propelled forward by that.

What you’re doing, whether it’s making a cake or it’s being an actor… Do what you love. Then you must work on your craft after you decide what it is. One of the things as a young actor you must do is you must to get a job in that world that pays you to do what you love. You have to find somebody that says, “Yes, I’m going to pay you to do what you love.”

You just can’t be doing it in an acting class. You must get a paying job. You must know enough to be able to do that job and show them your passion in every audition. You’re constantly working on your craft, whether it’s in an acting class or it’s you getting a job and you’re learning as you get paid to be a young actor.

That’s the first thing. The craft is important, knowing what you love to do. Jodi’s father used to say, “You can love what you’re doing now as an actor.” He didn’t want Jodi to be an actor, even though he was an actor and a song and dance man himself. But he didn’t want her to go down that route in life.

He ultimately told Jodi, “If you love it, then you should do that.” And, and then he said to her, you know, at the, “And maybe when you’re 30 you’ll decide you love driving a truck, and then you’ll do that.” Jodi told him she would never drive a truck. She still thinks that him telling her to try active that was the best advice he gave her and that anybody could have given her, and she tells that to young people now.

She says, “Yeah, you want to be an actor? Great. But when you stop loving that, then maybe that’s not for you.” Even if you’re getting jobs or you’re not getting jobs, there’s a certain manifest that you have power if you’re really being true to who you are, as opposed to doing it because your mother or your father are telling you to do it or whatever.

And that’s just the beginning of the story!

Watch or listen to this episode for the rest of the story and more golden nuggets of advice!

You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”

About My Guest

A veteran of Stage, Film and Television, Jodi West made history in 2021 when she won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress as “Mrs. Basil E” in Netflix’s DASH & LILY, becoming the first Asian-American actor to win in any Acting category.

Jodi made her Broadway debut at age 7 in NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP directed by Sidney Lumet, the first of five Broadway shows which include LOOSE ENDS with Kevin Kline, THE BACCHAE, Stephen Sondheim’s GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER and the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG, for which she won an Ovation at The Mark Taper in Los Angeles. She recently was seen in CHINESE REPUBLICANS written by Alex Lim at The Roundabout Theater in NYC and most recently in the new musical THE FAMILY ALBUMN music written by pop singer MILCK with book by Sam Chance, at The La Jolla Playhouse.

Film credits include: NIGHT SWIM, SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, THE HOT CHICK, PATTY HEARST, SOUR SWEET, STRIKING DISTANCE, THE MONKEY KING (animated) and the upcoming MOTHER WOLF. Television credits include: Margaret Cho’s mother in ABC’s ALL AMERICAN GIRL, TBS’s SULLIVAN AND SON, NBC’s CAFÉ AMERICAIN, and HBO’s SEX AND THE CITY and Disney’s THE MANDALORIAN.

As a writer, Jodi’s one woman show, SURFING my DNA was produced at Bucks County Playhouse, at NJ Rep and at East West Players in Los Angeles, In LA Jodi was nominated for an Ovation Award for Best Solo Performance. Jodi also wrote and co-produced LONG STORY SHORT directed by Academy nominated Christine Choy, a documentary about her parents that was voted the top ten documentaries by UCLA’s Asia Institute.

Jodi is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and currently serves on the Actor’s Branch Executive Committee. At SAG-AFTRA Jodi served as the Los Angeles Local President of 80,000 members for four years during the 2023 strike alongside National President Fran Drescher.

Want more outstanding advice from Hollywood? Check out “How to Become a Media Company of One with Larry J. Namer”